Ironing service?

iwanttosave_2

I do this as well and have done for about 5 years. I found the best way to charge is to give them a small basket and say what ever they put in it will cost £10, but on condition that all clothes are folded well and not just chucked in, I earn about £15 an hour doing it this way, I have found it much easier than charging per item or per kilo (which IMO takes longer to sort out, so more time) I personally only work about 3-4 hours a day but I could always up it to 6-8 hours a day and be raking it in. We have thought about OH quiting his job and getting a little van and taking on more work but we are happy as we are.

I find the basket method a lot better as well because they always know what they are paying, if they want two baskets then its £20 ect and no suprises when they get their bill. The hardest thing is establishing a good client base. That took me a good 6 months to gain and a further 6 months until they were regular orders every day. Offering gimmicks to first time customers is always good such as 25% off ect. But you also need to think about collection and delivery, would you be collecting or would they come to you? if they come to you then you would need to reflect this in your pricing because they are using their fuel and not yours. Also you need to find a good stockest of metal hangers and plastic sheet backs and also sticky labels so you dont get customers orders mixed up.

As for the actuall Ironing, its best to get door hooks for the ironing (clothes rails just get in the way) what I do it hang sweat shirts, pants, shirts, long sleeved t-!!!!s, dresses and ladies fashion tops, and fold t-shirts, bedding, PJs, underwear (you may get a lot of this, I have one order every week that consists of just 43 pairs of knickers), towels and small kids clothes. When it comes to bagging them up I do 4 items to a bag unless its childrens clothes and then its 6 items.

lisyloo

i have been ironing for 3 yrs now and not burned anything

I think you need to be careful here.
What would happen if there was a fault with your iron and the house burnt down (yeah I know it's unlikely, but think of the consequences !!).

I think you should inform your buildings insurer what you are doing.
I don't think it will cost a fortune but personally I wouod rather be on the safe side.

iwanttosave_2

lisyloo wrote:

I think you need to be careful here.
What would happen if there was a fault with your iron and the house burnt down (yeah I know it's unlikely, but think of the consequences !!).

I think you should inform your buildings insurer what you are doing.
I don't think it will cost a fortune but personally I wouod rather be on the safe side.

You do need to declaire it to your contents and buildings insurance or you may find that you are not covered. In regards to scortching an item, I just keep £50 to one side on the off chance that I do burn something (although after a few months you will learn just by touch what temp each item needs)

Dont forget that earnings may also need to be declaired to the inland revenue

wannabedebtfreebeth

Hi I did this for several years when my kids were younger as I could do it while I was at home woith them. I priced per hour as most poeple have a good idea how long a basket of their ironing takes. PArtway through I invested in a steam generator which cut 1/3 off the time (but I still charged the previous times - my investment in the generator therefore my saving and they were happy at the rates they were paying so it seemed fair) . The other thing you need to consider if you are collecting and delivering is what would happen if you were involved in an accident and ironing was damaged? My car insurer covered that risk on the business cover but it does add to costs. I started by leafleting nearby streets but it only ever really took off on word of mouth from the few I did get that way. Good luck - it worked well for me for a long time! I used to hate ironing but when I could look at a basketfull and say that was the petrol money or that was the kids' dinner money it was somehow very different.

Encantador

No idea why I am interested but just wondered whether people doing this as a business use a steam press thingy ma jig or a conventional iron.

iwanttosave_2

Encantador wrote:

No idea why I am interested but just wondered whether people doing this as a business use a steam press thingy ma jig or a conventional iron.

Sorry I only just noticed this when I pulled up this old thread, I use a normal iron, I have tried a stam iron and presser but they are a load of naff IMO they dont shave any time at all off how fast I do it.

I have a powerful iron through, its 2400W, 120g a steam and a 500ml tank but I got it half price for £25 from argos. I generally go through one iron a year or maybe 18 months whcih is good really considering that it gets used 5 days a week for at least 3 hours a day